Ash-pan for locomotives



(NoModeL) E. S. HART.

ASH PAN FOR LOCOMOTIVES. No. 296.749. 7 Patented'Apr. 15, 1884.

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'rangement or breakage, thereby permitting ELI S. HART, OF CLINTON,IOWA.

ASH-PAN FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 296,749. dated April15, 1884.

Application filed December 27, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELI S. HART, a citizen of the United States,residing in Clinton, in the county of Clinton and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Ash-Pans for Locomotives, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in theconstruction of ashpans for locomotives, by means of which the ashestherein may. be readily dumped at will from the cab.

Certain difliculties have heretofore existed in the practical use andoperation of locomotive ash-pans with slat bottoms, which have preventedtheir general adoption. In ashpans where the slats open downward, theslats, when open, are liable to be struck by snow, ice, or anyobstruction between the rails, and broken or injured. Such slats mustalso, when closed, be held in place by some mechanical device, which isconstantly liable to disarthe slats to drop down, thus leaving the panopen and practically without a bottom. In other pans where the slats arepivoted or hung at their centers, like difficulty occurs. The side ofthe slat opening downward is liable to be caught and broken by snow,ice, or other obstructions, or its connection with the operating-rod maybe broken by the same agency, in which case the'slat is thrown orsometimes fails backward. in the direction opposite from that in whichthe other slats close, frequently catching the other slats and holdingthem partially open, and thus preventing a perfect bottom being formedto the pan. In those pans where a slat is opened and becomesdisconnected from. the operating rod or device, or when, the slats beingopened, the operating-rod becomes broken or disconnected, reliance isplaced upon the current of air (caused by the motion of the locomotive)to close them. If the locomotive is running slowly, this current of airis often insufiicient for this purpose, and if it is running backward itsometimes closes them the wrong way, and they do not close down or forma close, tight bottom. In other ash-pans with slat bottoms the slatsextend lengthwise of the pan. This construction involves the necessityof solid ends or strong, substantial supports across the ends of thepans at the bottom, upon which the slats can be hung or pivoted. Thesesolid end supports are, in practical use, a serious objection to thesepans. "Whenever the operating or connecting rod is disarranged so theslats cannot be turned by its use, the pan must be cleared of ashes,cinders, 8rd, from the ends. If solid, this cannot be done. If made withdoors and supporting cross-pieces to carry the ends of the slatsunderneath them, the doors cannot (on account of the necessarily limitedheight of the pan) be made of sufficient size to permit rapid cleaningout of the pan, and great labor and delay are frequently caused by thismanner of construction. In all these forms it should not be overlookedthat a greater or less portion of the slats depend below the pan when inthe open position, thereby exposing them to danger from obstructionslying between the tracks. My improvement overcomes the above and otherobjections to ash-pans having slat bottoms, which have prevented theirgeneral adoption and use.

The invention consists of the peculiar construction and combination ofthe parts hereinafter more fully described. The accompanying drawingsshow, at Figure 1, a side elevation of my improved ashpan, partly brokenaway to show the interior construction. Fig. 2 is a cross verticalsection, and Fig. 3 is an inside elevation of one of the side walls.

In said drawings, A and A represent the side walls of my improvedash-pan, which may be provided with front and rear doors, B B, ifdesired. The bottom of the pan is composed of a series of slats, O C,each of which is hinged at the ends to the side walls of the pan, asexplained below. One of the side walls I provide with a lodge, a, inwhich are sockets a for the pivots 0 upon one end of the slats,and saidpivots are retained in these sockets by the beveled or inclined surfacedretainingpiece a". The wall A may be provided with a similar ledge, a,and retaining-piece (d; but

in this casethe pivot-openings extend clear through said wall, and thepivots c at this end of the slats are made long enough to project to theoutside of the pan and allow the attachment of the cranks D upon theirsquared ends vplied until after the slats are in place.

0 The slats are inserted with the pivots c first entering theiropenings, and the opposite pivots will then readily enter their socketsa if one or both retaining-pieces a be not alp- T e cranks D are forkedat their upper ends, and are all attached to the operating-bar E, bywhich they are actuated from the cab of the locomotive.

The chief peculiarity of my slats lies in the fact that in opening nopart of them is made to project below the bottom of the surroundingwalls of the pan, and this is due to the fact that they are hinged nearone of their longitudinal edges. I prefer to locate the pivots at therear edge, so they open at their forward edge, as shown in the drawings,as in that case the motion of the engine tends to draw the ashes out,and the slats do not act to catch the air and force it up into the panand retard the exit of the ashes as they would if they opened so as toincline in the opposite direction. By thus making them to swing entirelywithin the pan, the danger from obstructions on the road-bed is doneaway with.

Another advantageous feature attending the locating the pivots at theedge of the slats is that the weight of the slats acts to render themself closing, and this tendency may be increased by weighting them uponthe swinging edge or weighting the cranks by which they are operated, orboth ways may be employed. In the View shown in Fig. 1, I haveillustrated an appropriate form of the slat without any added weight.The crank shown is so constructed that it will assist the closing of theslats. Care should be taken, however, in the construction of the cranks,that they do not swing past the centers upon which they turn, as in thatevent they would counterbalance the slats to some extent and tend toprevent their closing. The stops at below the slats are intended toprevent the slats from turning apparent to those skilled in theconstruction and use of slat-bottomed pans, and needs no furtherdescription. Of course it will be understood the slats may be actuatedby the devices I have shown or by any other devices now in use for thatpurpose, and that such devices may be located within instead of outsidethe pan. However they may be constructed in other respects, they shouldnot project below the pan sufficiently to endanger them, and preferablyshould be located wholly above the bottom of the pan, as shown.

It will be noticed that the slats in my pa are so shaped at theiradjoining edges asto prevent interference by any one which may becomedetached from the operating devices with the opening of the others. Thisis not true of slats which overlap at their edges, except where theiredges are beveled, as shown, or equivalent forms are employed to obviatesuch interference. The overlapping feature is otherwise objectionable,in that it prevents the forming of a flat bottom which cannot beperfectly cleansed, and causes serious trouble, especially where theashes are liable to freeze to the slats.

I claim 1. The ash-pan for locomotives, having a bottom composed ofslats hinged by end pivots located near their longitudinal edges, andswinging upward within the pan, and devices for operating said slats,located in a plane above the bottom of the pan, substantially asspecified.

2. In a locomotive ash-pan, a series of slats forming a close flatbottom when closed, swinging upward within the pan, and hinged by endpivots located near their longitudinal edge, in combination withoperative devices located above the bottom of the pan, substantially asspecified. Y

3. In an ash-pan, the combination, with the slats and means foroperating the same, of the stops a, substantially as specified.

4. In an ash-pan, the combination, with the slats and means foroperating the same, of the stops a", substantially as specified.

ELI s. HART.

Witnesses:

H. M. IVIUNDAY, TAYLOR E. BROWN.

